Candy Counter Girl
by darkcloudsz1
Summary: Everyone's got their eye on the candy counter girl, especially London. Yeah that's right, this is slash. Don't like? Don't read.


**Candy-Counter Girl**

**Chapter One**

I ran through the entrance doors of the Tipton Hotel like a crazed maniac. Many people didn't have time to get out of the way, so I ended up knocking them down.

"Sorry ... oh I'm so sorry ma'am ... 'scuse me", I managed to spurt out to a few different people.

"Madeline, what is the meaning of this?" asked Mr. Mosey, the manager of the hotel, who apparently had just walked into the lobby, because he began running after me. He ended up grabbing me by my shirt and stopping me in my tracks as I attempted to get into the elevator. I tried to say something, but I was too out of breath. He noticed this, and slowly walked me to one of the chairs in the lobby and sat me down. Most of the people around stared at me, looking very angry, but I didn't care. Mr. Moseby put his hands on my shoulders.

"Now what is going on? The Martin boys are the ones who are supposed to be destroying my beautiful hotel, not you", he said, looking pretty agitated.

I finally caught my breath.

"They're -- they're after me", I coughed out.

"Who? Who's after you?" he asked, obviously confused.

Esteban, the bellhop, came over with a cup of water in his hand. He handed it to me, and I took it gratefully. My hands were shaking, but I managed to drink the whole thing in one go. I wasn't exactly sure that I wanted Moseby _and _ Esteban to know about what happened. In reality, I was just hoping to keep this whole thing to myself until I managed to find a solution. But then again, what did I know?

"Maddie, are you all right''? Esteban asked, looking pretty worried. "You ran through that door as fast as my chicken Dudley did when I told him I was going to take him to the vet."

"Esteban, don't you have a job to do?" Moseby asked, turning to face him.

"No sir, I don't believe I do", answered Esteban.

Mr. Moseby rolled his eyes.

"Esteban, what is your job"? he asked Esteban angrily.

"I am a bellhop, sir. And a pretty good one if I do say so myself".

"Then why aren't you bell hopping"! yelled Mr. Moseby, making the woman behind him jump in fright.

"Well, I guess I should get to hopping now. Good luck Maddie with whatever your problem is. I hope everything is all right. I –

"Oh, will you just leave!" yelled Mr. Moseby again, scaring the woman again, who walked away, huffing.

Esteban ran away at that towards the staff lounge. I was beginning to feel a little better. Still, I felt unsafe. Glancing towards the entrance doors, I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that no one was coming.

"Now, please tell me what's going on", asked Mr. Moseby.

"Nothing. Just some girls trying to beat me up because I'm poor and apparently not good enough to go to the school on the same block as theirs". I said this all very quickly, and then stood up to leave.

"Maddie, you're not poor", Mr. Moseby said, pushing me so I fell back down into the chair.

"Yeah well, that's what they think", I said, looking down at the floor.

"There must have been something else you did to make them so angry that they're trying to beat you up", he answered, taking a seat in the chair next to me.

"Nope, it's because I'm poor", I answered back.

"Well, do you know these girls?"

I really wished he would stop asking me so many questions. I shook my head no. He opened his mouth again, probably to ask another question, but it was that moment that the elevator opened and four people came out; Zack, Cody and Carey Martin and my friend London Tipton, the heiress whose father owns the hotel.

Zack immediately walked up to me.

"Hey sweet thang, how's it going", he asked.

I didn't have a rude comeback this time; I was too busy looking towards the door, worrying whether or not those girls were going to come in with guns or something.

"Zack, if you don't mind, Maddie is dealing with a huge problem now, so it would be marvelous if you were to go back upstairs and cause trouble in your suite", Mr. Moseby said, faking a huge smile.

"What's wrong"? asked Cody, Zack's twin brother.

"And you should go with him. This is not the business of two thirteen year old boys", Mr. Moseby said, turning to Cody.

"Aw, all right. But I'm coming back to help you baby", Zack said, winking at me, as Cody pulled him into the elevator.

Carey sat down on the chair with me and put her arms around me.

"What happened"? she asked me. "Guy trouble"?

"No, "I said quietly. "Girl trouble".

She turned to face me with a look of confusion on her face.

"Ms. Martin, Maddie was running from a group of girls today who were trying to beat her up because she's poor", Mr. Moseby explained, tirelessly.

"Oh no, are you all right?" she asked me, looking worried.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine", I started. "Just scared for my life".

"Well what kind of girls are they? Girly girls or the tough kind?" Carey asked me.

"The tough kind," I answered.

"Well that's not good", she said.

I nodded.

I wished that everyone would stop making such a big deal out of this, but then again I was scared for my life and also wished people would start making a bigger deal of this and at least attempt to help me.

"Well, I'll let you off work for today and for this weekend, but I expect to see you back again on Monday if this problem is not gone. You should head straight home and lay low this weekend", Mr. Moseby said.

I looked at him; my mouth was open in shock. He actually expected me to go home? What if I saw those girls on my way home? What if they were waiting right outside the entrance doors waiting for me to leave?

"I – I can't go home", I stammered. "What if --?"

"She's right, Mr. Moseby", Carey said, nodding her head. "She should stay with us for the weekend. It would be safer and we could figure out a plan or something"

"Hmm, you may be right", answered Mr. Moseby, nodding.

"Or … she could stay with me".

I completely forgot that London had been standing there, and apparently so had Carey and Moseby. I turned to face her, and suddenly saw her in a brand new light. She was rich – I was poor. She was exactly what I needed right now. Maybe she could take me shopping, and buy me a cute pair of shoes to go with my school uniform. Of course, I had no idea how I was going to get London to take me shopping and buy me whatever I wanted, but she was my only hope now.

"Sure, I'll stay with you London".

"Really?" London's eyes lit up happily. "All weekend"?

"Sure," I said, putting on a huge smile. "It'll be –"

"Yay!" London exclaimed happily. "I'll go up and order the lobster dinner". She left.

"Oh well that's all right", Carey said. "We'll see you anyways, so don't worry. We'll figure out something anyway. I've got to go upstairs and clean up the mess that my boys have probably made, so I'll see you later".

"Yes, I've got to go as well. I do have a job to do", said Mr. Moseby.

I said goodbye to both of them, then walked towards the elevator.

I was incredibly relieved that everyone cared so much about me and my safety. Once the elevator reached the twenty fifth floor, I stepped out and approached London's door.

"Ok, be as nice as you can to her. Smile a lot and be happy", I told myself, and then looked around to see if anyone was listening. I twisted the door knob; surprisingly the door was open, so I walked right in. I started my plan right then by putting a huge smile on my face. London was on the phone, so I took a seat in the nearest chair. It was huge; it was the chair I had slept on before when I stayed at London's suite to help her look for aliens.

"Well, just send up anything good that you have down there, and put it all on Daddy's card of course", London said into the receiver. "All right". She hung the phone up. "All our food will be ready in an hour", she said, looking at me.

"How much food did you order?" I asked.

"I have no idea", London answered. She took a seat on the couch. "So what's the deal with you and these girls"?

I knew I had to tell her. It was all part of the plan, and she'd probably be offended if I didn't tell her. So I put on a big smile and opened my mouth.

"It's nothing really. Just these girls from the school down the block don't like me that much because they think I'm poor, and they tried to beat me up today after school. I had to run like a maniac here".

"Wow", said London, lying down on the couch. "Are you ok"?

"Do I look ok"? I asked, sarcastically, but the second it came out I wanted to take it back, because from the look on London's face, it seemed like it offended her.

"I meant like, on the inside", London said.

"Yeah, I'm ok, I guess", I said skeptically.

"Want me to beat them up for you"? she asked. "I'm a martial arts master".

I smiled and shook my head.

"Trust me, London, if you saw these girls, you'd run away from them like a little girl."

London looked offended at this too. I couldn't believe that I was screwing up my plan

already.

"I – I didn't mean it like that", I stammered.

"It's ok", answered London, sadly. "Where were Monique and Corrie, meanwhile?"

"I don't know", I admitted. "I guess they had left already".

London was looking at me with the saddest look I'd ever seen her give. I guessed that meant that she really felt bad for me, and wanted to help me.

"Wow", I thought to myself. "London actually seems to care. I guess having me for a friend did her some good. She owes me now".


End file.
